MPEG System Streams in Best-Effort Networks

Michael Hemy, Urs Hengartner,
Peter Steenkiste, and Thomas Gross

Abstract

The MPEG format is widely used and therefore an attractive vehicle for
the distribution of video and audio material over the Internet. However, the
hierarchical structure of MPEG systems complicates the task of
delivering continuous, synchronized streams of video and audio in a best-effort
environment (today's Internet). If the network throws away packets on
encountering congestion, the video and audio stream may loose
synchronization for a number of frames. Therefore, adapting the resource
demands of an MPEG system must be done by an entity that is knowledgeable
of the MPEG system structure: an MPEG system filter. This paper describes
the integration of such an MPEG system filter into a network. Our
experience to date indicates that mid-range PCs can host such a filter,
and that the filter succeeds in adapting the resource requirements
of an MPEG system in response to changes in the network load.